Mako Mutations (Redone)
by Zimithrus1
Summary: The day started with Cloud going on a mission, and it ended with him comatosed from Mako addiction, but at a high and dangerous level, a level unknown to even SOLDIERs. It is know as Level 8: Contamination and Quarintine. This level attacks the bloodstream, cells, and DNA of a person. Only few have been known to survive. Now, Cloud might be next. CxZ Pair.
1. Chapter 1: I Am Cloud

_Oooh! Lookie what we have here! That's right, the new and improved Mako Mutations is out and ready for you guys to read! I figured out how to finally work with it! I'm not able to back up though, I have to start it with the mission, but I'll make it longer and add more stuff, so not all is lost, hehe! Anyways, I'll let you guys have at it! Hope you enjoy it! :)_

_Ah, just to let you know, this chapter has a bit of everything, and when I say that, I mean it's got a lemon in there ;) Oh yeah, in the first chapter? What am I thinkin'? Well, just a head up for you guys! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~XChapter 1: I Am CloudX~_

A mission. It must be an important one if Shin-Ra decided to send more than three full units of infantrymen. Currently, units three, seven, eight, nine, thirteen, and fifteen were all gathered in the large training room on floor forty eight, right below the SOLDIER floor in fact. Some commanders were passing out rations for the lower ranked cadets. Among the rations were vials of potions and ethers. There was also extra ammo and some standard cereal bars, all packed in to a small sea bag.

No one knew exactly how long this mission would take, but if cereal bars were issued in the rations, it had to be for at least a day or so. Cloud's sky blue eyes scanned the crowd of commanders and grunts. All in all, the combined total of one hundred and two people were all stuffed in this room. Even if the training floor was big enough to easily fit them all, they were all huddled up close together anyway. The blonde was nervous. This was one of his first major missions.

Until now, the blonde would rigorously train with his unit -He had been placed into unit thirteen- and go on minor missions that hardly even left the steel walls of Midgar. But now they were being shipped to Mideel, which was a ten hour trip, mind you. Cloud was not looking forward to this trip. For the first four hours of transportation, they would be driving in military cars and trucks. Then once they reached that stretch of ocean splitting this continent from the Mideel continent, they would go by boat for the last six hours.

The cadet did NOT like cars, boats or planes. He was surprised he could actually keep composure in a train. If only they could just take a train, he'd be okay. Well, there would be one perk about the journey there. He'd be able to share a private room on the boat with a SOLDIER First class. But not just any ole' First class. He'd be sharing it with his mentor, and significant other, Zack Fair. The two had been going steady for about two months now, and were as close as could be.

Relationships like theirs weren't uncommon, nor were they frowned upon. The people within Shin-Ra was very accepting of who you are and where you came from. It didn't matter to them, and that was great. To be honest, Cloud didn't even have that much trouble with bullies, there were a few, but he had friends to help back him up. In fact, some of his friends were going on this mission with him. If only he could find them among the riffraff...

"Alright you all, listen up! It's briefing time!" A higher-up shouted over the ruckus of the unit. All eyes were upon the commander in his red muffler. He stood near the front of the doors where the groups would soon be exiting to board the vehicles parked in front of Shin-Ra. The whole room fell into silence and all eyes were on him.

"You all must be thinking that this is a pretty dangerous mission to be sending all of you select few to Mideel. Well, you're absolutely right. This is a very dangerous mission. Be careless, and you could die. You all are assisting four first classes in the retrieval of an item extreme importance. What it is, I don't even know, but be on your guard." The higher-up jumped at the unit.

Cloud was listening intently to every word spoken. He needed to do well on this mission. It was his first major one, and not only that, it was his first one where he would be working alongside Zack. He needed to prove that the ravenette had properly trained him and that he could do this. The First Class had been talking about seeing the little blonde in action ever since they heard about the mission. He couldn't let Zack down, not with those eyes of his.

"Squad thirteen, you leave first, the other units will follow behind when you are safely boarded on the trucks." The commander spoke up from the chatter of the other units. He moved out of the way of the door, and allowed the nineteen people in said unit to leave the room.

Cloud was one of the last ones to leave the large room, and he followed behind his fellow comrades at an even stride, making sure he had his bag containing his rations and extra clothes strapped securely to his back. There was a soft murmur of voices from in front of the blonde, and most of them were hyped for this dangerous mission. The little trooper swallowed a thick lump on his throat. All of a sudden, he was starting to get nervous, even though they wouldn't arrive in Mideel for at least another ten hours. Butterflies rose to flutter around in the blonde's stomach, and they swarmed in his throat, making it even harder to swallow.

"Yo Azure-Eyes, you okay?" A voice spoke up, appearing right beside Cloud on his left side. The blonde turned his head in that direction, he knew who the voice belonged too. A small nervous smile crept onto his face.

"Yeah, Shae, I'm alright. Just a little nervous is all." He responded. Those butterflies suddenly hit ten fold and seemed to flutter into his mouth at this point. He felt near queasy and he didn't like it, especially since they were about to board the vehicles outside.

The young teen next to Cloud was known as Shaedon Lancastor, but he preferred to be called 'Shae'. The trooper of equal rank was about an inch shorter than the blonde he was standing next to, not to mention a year younger. While Cloud was seventeen, Shae was sixteen. He had these silver eyes, tinted ice blue around his pupil. His hair was blonde at the roots, but he had black tips and black highlights evenly blended and mixed in. But his most outstanding feature was his smile.

His teeth looked too big and jagged to be considered human. If he wasn't happy-go-lucky and bubbly like he was, his creepy smile would be increased for sure. He had a standard issue sea bag with him, just like the blonde, but his seemed to be fuller. Probably because the younger teen always carried huge handfuls of junk food and candy with him at all times.

"You look like you're going to puke, Azure-Eyes." Shae spoke up, his eerie grin making a cameo appearance. The younger teen often called Cloud by 'Azure-Eyes', rather than his name. The older blonde never minded it, and actually thought the little nickname was cool.

"I certainly hope not..." Cloud grumbled, remembering how sick he got in a car, or any form of transportation it seemed. He really hoped he'd grow out of this silly sickness one of these days.

Soon, the small group found themselves outside the Shin-Ra building. Morning was beginning to creep over the horizon as a big red ball to set the morning sky ablaze. The sky was composed of very bright colors, purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows streaked across the bleak canvas to paint it in a breathtaking array. The clouds above were thin and dotted in the sky, lightly brush stroked by the marvelous morning colors. The air was crisp and fresh, yet tinted in the slightest glaze of Mako.

Green substances shooting up from each numbered reactor casted a sickly glow as the pale green ascended into the sky to join the mix of morning hues. Cloud could see the large trucks parked just a bit further down the stretch of concrete that served as a small walkway. His unit was the first to gather inside, so they'd be able to sit in the seats, rather than just pile up in the aisles and sit on the floor. The blonde picked on closest to the open back of the large truck. This way if he needed to expel his breakfast, he could do so.

The butterflies turned into churning pangs and growls, tearing at his stomach and throat without mercy. Shae had sat down beside him and gave him a friendly pat on the back, telling him to think about something else, like kittens or creamy yogurt. At the words 'creamy yogurt', Cloud thought he'd loose his breakfast right then and there. The thought of food never helped and always made it worse. After that, the younger trooper decided to keep his mouth shut to avoid upsetting his friend's stomach even more.

Once the other units were all situated in each truck, they were ready to get going. Some commanders stayed behind, and just decided to tap the side of the truck to signal that they could start moving. The motors started up with sputters and grunts, but soon accelerated smoothly and let the vehicle pick up a steady speed. As soon as the vehicle hit that first bump, Cloud knew this was not going to be a very fun journey...

~~0-0- [VII] -0-0~~

By the time the trucks had arrived at a small port town -The town was called Tradeport- The time was twelve o' clock, the vehicles had ran an hour late. Not to mention Cloud had successfully regurgitated everything he had managed to hold down that morning about four times. He did not feel at his best right now. As soon as the trucks came to a stop, the blonde threw himself from its' steely clutches and nearly embraced the solid, unmoving ground below him.

He was given time to catch his breath and gather his senses, seeing as how the SOLDIER's going on this mission had yet to arrive. After his stomach had stopped churning, Cloud had done a bit of small chat with Shae and a bit of stretching from that cramped car ride. They only had to wait fifteen minutes until the nicer cars bringing in the SOLDIER's arrived. The first one to emerge from a vehicle was none other than General Sephiroth. Unlike the rest of the SOLDIER's, or others for that matter, the silverette did not have a sea bag with him for the long journey ahead.

Most of the troopers, Cloud included, had felt intimidated by his presence alone. Even though the young blonde had spoken with the silver haired General more than once, due to being in a relationship with Zack, he was still nervous around the older silverette. The next to arrive were a few Second classes that the blonde did not know, so he paid no mind to them, but did pay his respects when they passed by. Most of the troopers and commanders had already gone to board the large ship that would take them to Mideel.

Cloud decided to stay out and wait for Zack, that way they could walk to the boat together. Plus, he wasn't ready to face more transportation yet. The boat was nice, it was like a cruise ship for the long voyage ahead. Each trooper was put in pairs of two to three and given a room to share. SOLDIER's got their own, unless they invited someone to join them or were in a relationship with someone then they got a free pass to the luxury rooms. There was dining and even a few activities to partake in. Shin-Ra wanted them to be relaxed before diving headfirst into a tough mission, which didn't happen very often. The luxury boat ride, I mean.

Finally, the last SOLDIER's to arrive showed up. Angeal and Zack appeared at the same time, talking and laughing with one another, well, the younger ravenette was the one doing the laughing. Each of them had their own bag prepped for the journey. Zack's bag was stuffed a bit thicker than Angeal's, who looked to take only the minimal.

A smile wiggled its' way onto Cloud's face at the sight of the ravenette. Somehow, even after the months they had been together, just seeing the older teen made the little blonde smile for no reason. A Third class or two quickly walked by, wanting to hurry up and get on the ship already.

The trooper saw the two ravenette's waving and saying their bye's for now. Angeal walked ahead, giving a silent nod at Cloud as he passed, a small smile was on his face. The blonde returned the nod, knowing if he saluted, the older man would just say 'At ease, you don't have to do that all the time, Strife'. For some reason, the older man never minded if the others saluted to him or not.

Zack approached the smaller blonde, greeting him with a soft and carefree smile. In the past three days the blonde had gone without seeing the vivacious teenager, he looked to be doing fine. His scent was tinted slightly of sweet peas and lavender, more than likely signaling he had enough time to take a shower before departing from Shin-Ra.

"Hey there, Chocobo." The ravenette sweetly greeted, following up with a quick kiss on the blonde's head.

"h-Hey, there are still people out here..." Cloud muttered, looking left and right as a feverish blush overcame his face. It was obvious that the younger teen was embarrassed from the display of affection.

"Oh, let 'em look." Zack spoke softly, nearly whispering to where the blonde, and only the blonde, could hear. His warm breath puffed against the infantryman's ear, followed by a sensual little chuckle, echoing deeply from his throat. The action earned him a sharp breath from the other, as well as relentless chills shooting through the blonde's body.

"That's not even fair." Cloud mumbled, his blue eyes half lidded form the previous action only seconds ago. The blush on his face only deepened and become more of a red color, instead of a pale pink.

"Tough." Zack playfully said, gripping the blonde's chin in his right hand as he gave him a mischievous little grin. Oh that look, it always caused the little trooper's knees to buckle and his breath to hitch in his chest.

The ravenette dropped the cadet's chin and instead just held his hand, gently pulling on it to lead the way to the docks. The blonde followed beside him at an even pace, still blushing from being in plain sight and holding hands. The morning air began to get a little warmer the higher the sun rose into the beautiful blue sky. The town of Tradeport was small, very hard to see on the world map. Most of the shops and houses were located right by the great big docks the city housed. It wasn't very big in terms up shipment compared to Junon, but the people got by on what they could.

The two strode up towards the docks, where the large ship was waiting. Just seeing the monstrous vessel made Cloud's stomach begin to churn. He really didn't want to get on another moving object, but he had no choice. As the two approached, the larger the humungous boat got, making the blonde pale instantly and stop walking, standing still. There was a small tug on his arm from Zack, who had been unaware that Cloud had stopped walking, and had been jerked back ever so slightly.

"Hey, what's up, Buttercup?" The Second Class asked, turning on his heel to look at the little blonde behind him.

Cloud shook his head silently, hanging his head down as he did so. He could already feel the nausea creeping up to his throat. He knew as soon as that massive ship started moving, he'd start hurling. But by this point, he had nothing left to expel, his breakfast was already long gone. His stomach argued and churned, stating otherwise. He could barely feel his body beginning to tremble, another tell-tale sign of a bad time yet to come.

"I don't wanna go... I'm going to get sick again." Cloud mumbled, still hanging his head down.

The Second class took one small step forward, and subconsciously, the blonde took a step back, knowing what was about to unfurl. It was either suck it up and hold it down, or it was Zack's way. Either way would not end pretty for the little trooper. If only he had no motion sickness. Before his mind could even comprehend what happened, the ravenette had already swooped the blonde up into his arms, ready to carry him into the ship himself.

"C'mon babe, either way we have to go. You can either make a fool of yourself doing it, or you can suck it up and not look like a baby." Zack truthfully spoke. It sounded a bit harsh, but deep down, the ravenette really didn't like to see the little blonde so upset, stomach and emotion wise.

Deciding not to cause a scene, the blonde just mutely nodded and buried his head into the older teen's shoulder, taking in a deep breath to calm his racing nerves and churning stomach. The second class then began to make his way towards the ship, making his way up the ramp to board the boat. Cloud refused to lift his head up, and had even closed his eyes shut tight. The only thing that kept him from breaking away and running away, was Zack's broad and warm arms that held him tight. Not to mention his scent of sweet peas that he adored oh so much.

After a few more minutes of hearing the ravenette talk, and feeling him walk, the two arrived outside their room. Cloud finally brought his head up and opened his eyes when they had stopped walking. Luckily, the door had already been cracked open, so Zack was able to open up the door with his foot, not having to put the blonde down. He closed it shut with a swift kick when the two had entered the lavish room.

There was a large queen sized bed, decorated in silken sheets of cobalt blue. It was centered right below a single large bay window, complete with blue velvet curtains draping on either side of the warm glass. The floor below them was carpeted in a deep maroon, to contrast the deep blue furniture scattered throughout the room.

There were elegant Victorian styled lights on either side of the bed, bringing a soothing light to the place like the sun could do. Across the bed on the right side was a lavish bathroom that would most likely be explored afterwards. The walls were colored in this comforting pale tan color. The hues of the room were all disoriented and uncoordinated, but somehow it all fit together nicely.

Zack made his way over to the bed, then finally decided to let Cloud down. The blonde's face had been drained of all color, and was replaced with a cold pale that could rival the dead. His arms were coiled over his stomach tightly, and his body hunched forward ever so slightly, digging his arms into his abdominal region. His frail body had begun to tremble by this point, clear signs signaling he might be loosing his breakfast again. If there was anything left anyway...

"I'll be right back, I'm going to go get you a trashcan, just in case." The Second class spoke, placing a tender kiss to the cadet's clammy cheek.

"Uh-huh..." The blonde grunted, nodding his head along with. His shaking increased just a little bit more, and a few queasy groans from his stomach erupted through his body, making this repressed squelching sound.

Before heading towards the bathroom, Zack took Cloud's sea bag from his shoulders, as well as his own, and placed them by the foot of the bed for now. He then entered the large bathroom just a few feet away, and pulled out a little trashcan sitting idly by the bathtub. He picked it up and brought it back out to the main room.

He gingerly sat the metal bin right beside the trooper's feet, then carefully sat himself down on the bed, scootching around to sit behind the smaller teen. He wrapped his broad arms around the blonde's neck loosely, yet in a comforting manner. He rested his head on the smaller shoulder in front of him. The ravenette received a small hum of appreciation and affection in return from the little trooper.

Within seconds from that, the ship began to slowly lurch forward. Everyone was boarded, and now the long ride would commence. This only made Cloud groan in a sickly fashion and press his face against Zack's, seeking comfort from his own nausia that was tearing up at him on this inside. The ravenette moved his arms from the blonde's neck, and instead hugged the little trooper by the waist, then nuzzling his head closer to the crook of the trooper's neck.

"I really hate boat rides..." Cloud complained weakly, his face grimacing ever so slightly as he spoke.

The large carrier ship picked up a little more speed, pulling out of the docks of Tradeport by this point. The little waves from the shallow ocean began to lap at the front of the ship eagerly. The tiniest rocking movements began, gently rocking the ship in a lulling motion, like a mother rocking her baby to sleep after a long day. But to some, this only caused a sick suffering, and a hellish experience on the choppy seeming waters. The blonde's stomach only began to growl louder in protest, the bigger the rocking motions got.

"I know it'll be hard, but try not to think about it." Zack tenderly spoke up, still remaining close to his part time student, and full time significant other.

" 'Try not to think about it', he says." Cloud mocked, rolling his eyes as he did so.

In return, the ravenette nipped at the lobe of the blonde's ear, causing the smaller framed teen to yelp quietly from the quick bite. A deep chuckle rose from the Second class, using that little sensual tone of his. His hot breath ghosted across the other's clammy flesh, warming it up and giving it chills as well. The loose hold around his waist tightened a bit, giving a small squeeze.

"Are you mocking me, Strife?" Zack asked, still using that deep and gruff voice of his, remaining close to the little blonde's ear. A dark hum of amusement followed after his question.

"And if I am, Sir?" Cloud asked back, yet his voice was wispy and light as he spoke, and his sky blue eyes were half lidded, a devious and mischievous grin spreading across his pale face, in which as slowly beginning to regain its' former color.

"Hmm...Getting a bit rebellious are we? Well, there are ways to fix that." The ravenette dourly spoke, his right hand reaching up and tugging the cadet's muffler down to expose his neck, while his left hand fell from his waist to rest against his thigh.

Warm breath was puffed against the delicate flesh, resulting in a wave of chills and a bit of warm perspiration. Soft lips connected with the heated skin, softly kissing in a slow and passionate manner. His actions earned him an airy sigh from the younger teen in front of him. With his other hand, he gently squeezed the blonde's thigh, brushing his fingers across the blue fabric of the uniform pants. The kisses on the neck soon became little bites and knicks, gently bruising the delicate skin in the heated moment.

That familiar airy sigh became more of a moan by this point, and the little cadet squirmed a bit as a part of him he'd rather not mention began to tighten. When the bites became hard enough to draw the slightest amount of blood, the ravenette brushed his tounge across the wounds to softly nurse and caress the injured flesh. The blonde had tilted his head back, so much more of his neck was exposed for the Second class to do with as he wished.

He wasted no time in defiling the added skin with bites and bruises, while the hand currently resting against the cadet's thigh traveled elsewhere, towards the tightening. Upon seizing the clothed area within his own gloved hands, a moan soon became a near choked squeal, and the body before him tensed further, his hips arching further into the other's grip. Any rationalized thinking had been long dissolved, and was replaced with the burning passion with a near animalistic instinct that could be ignited in even the timidest of souls.

With his other hand, the Second class moved from the cadet's muffler, to the zipper of his pants, a dark smile spreading across his face as he worked at the fabric. The small blonde wriggled slightly, assisting in the motions the ravenette was causing, allowing the older teen enough hand room to slip by the undone waist of the blue colored pants. The slightest ghost of the older teen's gloved fingers across the sensitive and swelling area caused the blonde to further arch his hips forward, closing his eyes as delight began to fester in his blood and burn behind his eyes and seer in red through his cheeks.

His breaths had become quicker and heavier, and more sweat was beginning to glaze the cadet's soft porcelain skin. With a quick flick of the wrist, that same hand moved past the waist of the pants, and slipped through the elastic band just beneath the pants and above the skin. Within seconds, pleasure seemed to erupt throughout the room in those brief moments of contact. Any thinking at all had been washed away from the wave of this kind of affection only two could make.

Time seemed to crawl slower the longer the moment lasted, and lust fueled the two teenagers to reach an impossible seeming euphoria that only this kind of contact and unity could bring. Relief came just as quick as the lust, and ended likewise in a transparent, near invisible, color. The other worked himself to relieve the tension he had caused himself, feeling the same relief as the blonde in only a few brief and fleeting moments.

Heavy breaths from both scraped at the still air surrounding them, and sweat trailed down each body, gently beginning to wet the hairs on the back of their necks. Evidence of the moments prior took on the shape of bite marks, blood, and bruises coating the neck of the blonde cadet. As time crawled on as they recovered, their senses slowly began to return to them, as well as their thoughts and sanity earlier claimed by contact and lust.

"So...Are you still motion sick?" Zack asked with breaths laced heavily with exhaustion.

"What motion sickness?" Cloud playfully responded, as if he never suffered from the constant sickness of transportation. He was equally as out of breath as his significant lover behind him, and it was painstakingly obvious.

"How does a hot shower sound?" The Second class asked, finally moving away from the blonde to stretch some of his muscles that had fallen asleep.

"Fantastic!" The cadet exclaimed with hardly a voice. A soft smile spread across his exertion flushed face as he stood up from the bed, not even bothering to fix his uniform that had been tampered with, to say the least.

The ravenette also stood up from the bed, but before making his way to the bathroom, he reached over the bed and grabbed his and Cloud's sea bag. With that, they both left the main room and headed into the bathroom, carrying the bags with them. They contained an extra change of clothes.

The small room was decorated just as nice as the other. The same Victorian styled lights hung from the walls, and the shower wall was decorated with smooth cobblestones. A cotton white curtain hung beside the bathtub, waiting to be put to use. The sink was decorated in a marvelous blue granet, and the faucet was colored as if it was gold. This place seemed more like a cruise ship than a carrier.

Zack reached across the bathtub and began to crank the faucet on the left a few times in a clockwise direction. He let out a cry of surprise when dousing cold water rained down above his head. He staggered back a few steps and shook his head, making the cold droplets of water fling in multiple directions. Cloud giggled at the sight and backed up a step or two when the ravenette flung the water from his hair in random directions.

"Aww, what's wrong Puppy? Didn't like deh ice cowd bathy?" The blonde cooed, using baby talk as if the Second class really had been a puppy.

"Hey, you be quiet, Chocobo!" Zack playfully shot back. With a mischievous grin, he stuck his hand under the water, then went to go fling it at the blonde. As he took a step to increase his range of water flicking, his boot lost traction on a small puddle and it sent him crashing to the ground with a startled yelp.

"Ahh, not onwy is deh wittle puppy soaking wet, he went and fell down." Cloud continued to tease, giggling as he did so.

"You little~!" Zack cried, jumping up and throwing himself at the blonde, laughing as he did so. He then put the cadet into a loose headlock under the cold water from the showerhead. The younger teen squirmed and cried out, shouting that the water was cold and that the ravenette was an asshole.

After five more minutes of them roughhousing in the bathroom, the two had saturated their uniforms, as well as the bathroom floor. Both of them forgetting that they even needed a shower in their little game of 'Payback'. The ravenette finally found the right knob for the hot water, and let the bathroom warm up due to the steam that emanated from the showerhead after only a few seconds. The plumbing in this ship worked quick!

The two removed their saturated clothes and stepped into the shower, play fighting over who'd get to stand closer to the warm spray of the water from above. The two stood close together under the water for a minute or two, before deciding to wash themselves off. There was soap flinging, tears from soap getting in the eye, a few kisses, purposely dropping a soap bar and implying something inappropriate, as well as a bit of cuddling under warm water. They ended up staying in there until they jumped out of the shower when the water suddenly turned cold and sprayed down their backs like liquid ice.

The two dried off with a few fluffy white towels before changing into their spare clothes, while leaving their uniforms out to dry. They still had at least five more hours til' they arrived on the coast of Mideel. The spare clothes had been nothing fancy, and more suited for indoor comfort. Cloud had changed into an off white t-shirt and black silk shorts, while Zack had changed into a dark grey tank top and black sweat pants. The two left the steamy bathroom and into the coolness of the main room. They both sat down on the bed. Well, the blonde cadet sat down, while the raven haired Second class flopped down onto the bed with a big lofty sigh.

"I'm feelin' a little tired." Zack spoke, rubbing his eyes with his hands as a small yawn drawled out of his mouth.

He rolled over onto his stomach, then crawled his way over to the head of the bed. He pushed two pillows up against the headrest into a hospital style, then snuggled his face in the warmth of the cotton pillowcase. He peaked one eye out to look at Cloud. The blonde was looking at him, a soft smile engrained on his delicate face. Even from this distance, the ravenette could see the dark bruises coating the younger teen's neck on the right side, and a bit on the left. It almost made him blush, seeing what he did to the little blonde.

"What?" The cadet asked kindly, a soft pink blush radiating from his cheeks ever so softly.

"Come take a nap with me." Zack said with a smirk. His voice was a bit muffled, since half of his face was smothered in the comfort of the pillow he was resting against. He held his left arm out and up, signaling that the blonde could snuggle up against him.

Cloud smirked, his smile becoming a little wider, and his blush increased in intensity. He quietly crawled over towards the ravenette, then laid down, pressing his body against the older teen's. The Second Class' arm instantly curled around the cadet's body, pulling him just a little closer. He could feel the blonde's heart beating in his chest, and the ravenette felt it against his own. There was a warmth that swarmed over the smaller male, engulfing the two in a sweet heat that gently lulled them to sleep in each others arms, without a need for a blanket.

-0-0- [VII] -0-0-

"Rosie! Come back! Mom said we can't go into the mountains this far!" A young eight year old Cloud cried, running after his little six year old sister.

The two had gone out to play, but the younger strawberry blonde girl had adventured a little too far up the mountains of Nebelheim. Their mother and father told them to never come here, that it was dangerous. Mean monsters like Nebel wolves and Dark Dragons lived up here, and they were two humans trespassing in their territory. But that wasn't all.

Up in this altitude also lay Mako Pools. They usually didn't cause any harm, but his little sister always wanted to touch it and see how it felt, and that as bad. Even touching a pure Mako Pool had some nasty side effects. You could get burned, poisoned, or even worse, you could fall into a coma and die!

"C'mon Big Brother! It'll be fun!" Rosie exclaimed, laughing as she continued to run up the mountain side. Cloud continued to try and catch up to his energetic little sister. He slipped and stumbled a couple of times, lost his footing, or flat out tripped. Rosie was able to ascend the mountain as if she knew exactly where to go. Knowing he wouldn't be able to change her mind about returning to the village, the blonde boy decided to say: 'Will you at least slow down and wait for me?'.

At that, Rosie stopped running ahead and allowed her brother to catch up. When she saw him covered in dirt, she just laughed and snorted a bit. She had not even one speck of dirt on her little red dress, or on her face unlike Cloud.

"Well, it's about time you decided to have some fun! Come on! Let's go exploring!" She squealed, grabbing her big brother's hand and tugging gently.

The two siblings began to walk together, continuing to scale the mountainside. The blonde boy looked behind him to see that Nebelheim was beginning to shrink in size the further up they went. He knew they were past the point of no return. Glancing at his wrist, he checked the time on his chocobo printed wristwatch. The time was six thirty. They were supposed to be home an hour and a half ago. Surely their mother or father had started to look for them.

Even though they'd be in a world of hurt when she found them, Cloud wanted to turn around and go back home. He didn't like it up here. It was scary. But Rosie continued to skip up the winding mountain path without fear or a care in the world. His little sister had always been the brave one, the one who could plunge head first into danger and laugh the whole way through. The eight year old wished he could be as brave as his little sister.

Rosie suddenly stopped in her tracks and glanced over to the right. Cloud bumped into her, but then did the same when he saw her looking elsewhere than the path. In the distance, a pure mint green color slowly swirled up and bubbled into the sky, growing darker by the minute. One glance and the two already knew what it was. A pure Mako Pool. Rosie's eyes instantly lit up like a firework, and with a burst of speed, ran as fast as she could towards it.

An unfortunate Cloud was pulled along with, shouting at his sister to stop and that they should turn around. The strawberry blonde girl would hear no word of objection and continued to run towards the glowing green light. By the time they reached the pool, the sun had completely vanished, and it was starting to get cold and windy. The two were so high up in the mountain that it was getting a little harder to breathe. It took a bit of a toll on Cloud, but Rosie looked unphased.

She let go of her big brother's hand and approached a little closer to the pool, just a few feet away from the edge. She looked down to see the beautiful green liquid rise like ribbons up towards the sky, while embedded deep within its crater home, it looked so warm and inviting. The little six year old turned to look at her eight year old brother, a bright light of joy swirling behind her light cobalt blue eyes. Rosie.

"Don't." Cloud warned, his voice becoming more stern.

He needed to get the point across that they shouldn't be here, how they were in danger, and how their mother was probably worried sick and looking for them this very minute. But The little girl didn't listen, but instead held her hand out towards her big brother.

"Come on, let's go swimming! We don't have to stay in long, I promise!" She pleaded with those sugar coated eyes of hers. It was so hard to say no to those innocent eyes, but Cloud needed to keep his resolve. This wasn't safe! He needed to keep his baby sister safe, just like he promised on the day of her birth!

"No, Rosie." The older blonde said, keeping his voice stern and even. No more Mr. Nice Guy. This was for his sister's own good.

"C'mon bubba! can't I at least soak my feet or somethin'?" She pleaded again, throwing out her bottom lip into an undeniable pout.

"I said no, and I meant it! Come on, we need to go home. We'll be in deep trouble if we don't get back home now." Cloud spoke, never loosing his resolve. But he did soften his eyes and held his hand out, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. She needed to get away from the edge.

Rosie pouted further, and crossed her arms over her chest, obviously upset now. "Okay, fine." She grumbled, beginning to walk towards her big brother.

Before she could take any more than three steps, the ground began to crack under her feet. She stopped, her eyes widening in fear as she looked at the ground below her. Before anything else could happen, the ground suddenly gave way, sending Rosie tumbling down into the Mako Pool.

"ROSIE!" Cloud screamed, running towards the newly formed edge the broken ground had created. He hunched down onto his hands and knees, seeing his little sister barely able to stay above the surface.

She could swim, but not very well, and not very long. She was loudly whimpering, and tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. She slapped her hands around in the Mako, trying to stay afloat in the thick green substance. Then all of a sudden, she started screaming loudly, tears no cascading down her cheeks rapidly.

"It hurts! Help me Big Brother! It hurts!" She screamed, desperately slapping at the water to try and get to the edge where Cloud was at, holding his hands out for her to take.

"Come on Rosie! Just swim over here and I'll save you!" The older blonde exclaimed, becoming as frightened as his little sister.

The strawberry blonde girl's heard went under the bright green liquid, and only her hands were above the surface. The eight year old stretched out his arms to try and grab her hands, but he was just too far away to reach her. Her head popped back up, and she was screaming, crying, and sputtering Mako out of her mouth.

"Cloud!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

With that final cry, her legs gave out, and the pain was suddenly too much to bear. She went under, no longer fighting to stay afloat. Without thinking, Cloud dove into the pool. There was searing pain burning into his flesh, and his nerves screamed in agony. His heart began to pump in double time, adrenaline pumping throughout his blood. It wasn't until he went under the surface that he remembered he couldn't swim. Regardless, he did his best to shake of the pain, and he dove deeper into the pool.

It was getting darker the further he went, but he could see Rosie, see her frightened cobalt blue eyes burning through his. She couldn't hold her breath any longer and began to choke on the Mako. As she breathed it in, she only coughed up blood from under the water. The thick crimson liquid danced around in the Mako, swirling upwards, and engulfing Cloud. In fright, he screamed, forgetting for only a moment that he too was underwater in this substance. When he looked back down, Rosie was sucked up into the darkness, and only her blood made it to him.

It was too late...She was gone.

The eight year old let out another scream, loosing all of his air. He knew he was going to suffer the same fate as his precious baby sister. Suddenly loosing all of his strength and determination, he stopped fighting to get back to the surface. He began to let the Mako pull him down in the darkness where he would soon join his sister. He began to take in a breath of the green substance, but before he could take a big gulp of it, strong arms wrapped around his body. He could feel the rush of the liquid going down as his body was pulled up. Who was saving him?

Suddenly, they broke through the surface, the pressure leaving from his head and allowing him to weakly cough up the little bit he had managed to swallow. There was a sharp and high pitched ringing in his ears, and his vision was slightly blurred, and everything was enclosed in a bright white light. There were a few muffled voices in the distance, as if he was still underwater and trying to listen to people talk.

"Ariyanna, take Cloud. I'll see if I can find Rosie." A husky voice spoke as he was handed off to someone else.

"Okay, be safe, Seigfroid." A female voice responded back.

Ariyanna? Wait, that was his mother's name! And Seigfroid, that was his father's name! They found them! The ringing in his ears had lessened some, but it was still there. The white light swarming in his eyes had died away by this point, and he could see his mother's worried face looking into his.

"Oh, Cloud. My sweet child..." Ariyanna whimpered, her warm hands went and caressed his cold cheeks.

He could see tears slip from her eyes. He was going to tell her not to cry, but found he couldn't even move his mouth to speak. He could hardly even blink. What did that Mako do to him? The sound of liquid sloshing around let the blonde boy know that his father had returned from the Mako Pool. He was able to see the look in his eyes. It was sorrow. In his arms, Rosie's limp body hung lifelessly. They had been too late to save their little girl.

"Come on, let's get back to the village, before we loose Cloud as well." Seigfroid said with a heavy heart. He was the one who had to carry Rosie back to town. He had to carry his dead daughter.

Upon arriving back at the village, they were greeted with gasps and muttered prayers. Praying for the Goddess to watch over Roselina Strife in the Lifestream, and to pray that she didn't take Cloud Strife away from his parents. That same night, Rosie was buried in the backyard. A few roses were plucked from the flower garden to decorate her grave, which was two pieces of firewood tied together to make a cross.

For the rest of the night, and many other nights to come, the eight year old's parents constantly watched over him, taking turns sleeping to make sure he would be okay through the night. They had to feed him, give him baths, all while he could only lay there and watch them worry and fret that he would die as well. Cloud had been in comatose for three weeks before finally recovering. He vowed to never go near Mako Pools, or that substance, ever again.

That was when Cloud woke up from his nap crying...  
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_A/N: Annnnd that's where I'm stopping this chapter! Whew, it was so long! *wipes sweat from forehead* Man, this chapter is, bipolar or something. One minute it's all happy, then there's sex, then there's death! Maybe I'M just the bipolar one? o0o Anyway, as you can see from the original, I nearly flat out changed Everything! I added more stuff and made my writing even better! Hooray! :D_

_So, let me knew what you guys thought of the chappie, and feel free to ask questions or whatnot, I'll gladly get back with you :p For all you new readers, please fave and follow for more madness n' stuff!_

_Toodles! :) _  
_~Zimithrus1_


	2. Chapter 2: Stuck On Loop

_Wowzers! Already got chappie number two up and ready to go! Now that I've found out how to tamper with this, I'm really getting into this story! :D Huzzah! I hope you guys enjoyed the new and improved chapter one as much as I enjoyed typing it up!_  
_After seven thousand words and I was debating on typing more! Anywho,_  
_let's get started on chappie two! :)  
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_ ~XChapter 2: Stuck on LoopX~_

Before Cloud could cry another tear from his irritated blue eyes, Zack was already hovering over him. There was a panicked look on his face as worry began to swarm behind his eyes of Mako blue. His larger hand gently brushed across the blonde's left cheek, stroking it lovingly with his thumb to try and calm him down. The small trooper sniffed back more tears before anymore could fall. His face was flushed red due to his sadness, caused by his dream.

"Hey, what's wrong, Angel? The Second class asked tenderly, still continuing to rub the blonde's cheek delicately.

"I just...Had a bad dream." The cadet decided to say, sniffing once more.

He took notice that the ravenette had already changed his clothes back into his uniform. It looked as if he didn't take any time to make sure it fit properly, for a few pieces of the shirt were still untucked, and the pauldrons that usually accompanied the standard outfit were not present. He looked to have been interrupted while changing. Cloud's eyes rolled over to the right, where he noticed that the sun was beginning to set and paint the world in orange and yellow. He also saw some tropical trees in the nearby distance, and a few wooden houses. They had arrived at Mideel Coast.

When the blonde made move to sit up, Zack pulled away from him and gave him the room to sit up properly. He still remained close to the younger teenager, making no move to finish getting ready. Most of the panic had left from the ravenette, but a lingering trace of worry still swam behind those blue eyes of his. The trooper just offered up a small smile, silently saying that he would be alright now. If the ravenette was still here to look out for him he'd always be alright.

"When did we arrive?" Cloud asked, getting up from the large bed. He began to stretch upon standing up all the way.

"About ten minutes ago. Units three and eight have already left to scour the area by the beach. Your unit and I will be heading in deeper into the forest to patrol." Zack explained, looking down to see his shirt was still untucked. With a few quick movements, the rest of the shirt had been properly tucked into the pants.

"When do we leave the ship?" The blonde inquired as he headed to the bathroom to get his uniform, which was dry by this point.

"In precisely five minutes." The ravenette responded, following the trooper into the bathroom to assemble the rest of his uniform. He grabbed his pauldrons from the bathroom sink, and used the leather straps to secure them to his shoulders.

It was then that Cloud began to scurry. He quickly tossed his spare clothes off and grabbed the shirt to his uniform. With a bit of struggling and nearly pulling his head through the sleeve instead of the neck, he was able to slip the shirt on and tug at the bottoms to get all the creases out of the fabric. Next, he grabbed the pants and carefully began to put his right leg through. He stumbled a few times, occasionally loosing balance and making the ravenette hurry to catch him, but he managed successful without falling over at all.

Then he threw his muffler over his head and adjusted it properly. By this time, Zack had just finished stuffing the bottom of his pants into his boots and was ready for action. His electric blue eyes looked over at Cloud, who was now adjusting the suspenders across his shoulders, then his pauldrons following right after. Once the top half of his outfit had been completed, he grabbed his steel knee guards and brown leg straps, getting to work on getting those attached. Seriously, the infantry uniform was so complicating.

"Alright! Done!" The blonde exclaimed in exasperation, his face turned a bit pink due to his frustration.

"You look so cute when you're stressed." The ravenette said with a sly chuckle, complimented with a big grin. He stepped up behind the blonde and wrapped his arms around the small waist in front of him, nuzzling his face against the trooper's neck for a brief moment.

"Oh shut up, you." Cloud playfully retorted, softly smiling back at the affection given to him.

"C'mon blondie, let's get a wiggle on." Zack responded, letting the cadet go as he eased his way out of the bathroom.

"A wiggle?" The cadet repeated, a bit confused and a bit of bland disbelief at what his lover just said.

The blonde's blunt repetion went unheard from the ravenette as he grabbed his standard issued sword from the front door of the ship cabin. There was this little quirky smile on his face as he holstered the sword to his back, using the strong magnets on the back of his suspenders. He turned around to look behind him, his eyes gleaming in a pleasent lighting. Without words, the cadet knew he was hyped for the mission. More importantly, he was excited to see the blonde in action on a real mission for the first time.

Making sure he had all of his equipment, namely his rifle and nightstick, Cloud was also ready to go. He left out the cabin door before Zack, and the Second class shut the door behind them. With that, they began to leave the interior of the ship and make their way to the docks. They both walked closely to each other, watching all the others hurry about or goof off with friends as they made ith way to Mideel Coast.

When the two made it outside, the world was becoming darker, slowly and steadily. Most of the yellow from earlier had faded to orange, and that orange had melded into a deep red, as if the sky was ablaze in some beautiful kind of fire. A few clouds that hung overhead were painted an indigo purple with light pink underbellies. The sun was now resting its bottom half against the horizon line, signaling that night would soon be upon them in a mere few hours.

Zack scanned the hordes of cadets down at the base of the forest, looking for the unit he would be in charge of, which happened to be Cloud's unit. Upon spotting the group of eighteen, he began to lead the way off the boat and towards the clustered group. The blonde followed behind him closely, not wanting to get seperated from him in this large crowd of infantrymen.

The coastal climate was warm and humid, and the air was thick and hot. It was stuffy outside and a bit hard to breathe. The cadet was not used to this kind of tropical weather, unlike Zack, who had lived in this kind of climate. The blonde lived in cold and wintery weather.

The Second class and final cadet made it to where their group was standing. The ravenette immediately turned on his superior side like a switch, his posture a bit more straight as he walked, and his face a little bit firmer and more set than usual. Cloud quickly scurried to his place within the group, standing right next to Shaedon, who waved at him and smiled that eerie grin of his.

"Alright you guys, listen up! This isn't a walk in the park. The monsters here are nasty and if you are unprepared, they will eat you alive. Keep this in mind as you venture through the forest. Do I make myself clear?" Zack spoke, his tone was firm and more orderly than his usual playful voice.

"Sir, yes sir!" The cadets shouted in time, standing at attention as they gave a sharp salute; Cloud as well.

"Alright, let me brief you on the item we're looking for. Two weeks ago, one of our top scientists went AWOL, taking very important documents and samples on the matter of the SOLDIER program and some experiments along with him. We have been ordered to retrieve the samples and paperwork before they fall into the wrong hands. I have also been informed that there are Sky Gunners, Stive Machines, Hellhounds, Tycoons, Scissor Chitins, and Malboros. Not only that, but some of the locals had witnessed sights of Wyerds, Jabberwocks, and even a King Behemoth. Be on your guard." The ravenette warned.

The cadets responded back with the standard 'Sir, yes sir' and another sharp salute. Shaedon nudged Cloud gently with his elbow. When the blonde looked over at his dual-hair colored friend, the boy had his errie smile popping from behind his thin and bow shaped lips. He was obviously excited to fight against some tough monsters. He noticed that they younger teen had grown especially hyped when the Jabberwock was brought up.

Without another word, Zack led the average sized group into the dense forest. They knew it would be thicker the further in they went. None of the other infantrymen were letting their fear or nervousness show, and Shaedon was beginning to bounce up and down as he walked.

With all that energy, you think he'd scare all the monsters away with his pep alone. Cloud picked up the pace a little more, and made sure his rifle was close to his hands, so he could pull it out and fire at a moments notice.

There was a small rustling sound coming from some tall grass a few feet due northwest of their current position. The group and Second class stopped in their tracks, slowly reaching for their weapons. When a harmless Rilfsack skittered out from behind the grass and into a tree to rest, the group stopped reaching for their weapons and continued onward, being cautious with every step they took. The further they got, the thicker the forest got. As time crawled on, the sun finally set beyond the horizon, and an early night was slowly beginning to unfurl.

A few noises from owls and crickets were heard, but ignored none the less. So far, no big monsters had been seen or fought with. The only thing the group had encountered were a few Rilfsacks, skittish Cactuars, and Needle Kisses that let the group go by without any problems. The long billed birds had only nestled down in the treetops and went to sleep. In this forest, as long as you left the wildlife alone, the wildlife left you alone.

"This is so boring." A trooper a few feet away from Cloud grunted, shifting his rifle around on his back restlessly. He was itching for a good fight, and so far, none had been found.

"It's not about wither we fight or not, it's about getting the mission done. Fighting will only slow us down." Zack spoke up from the front of the pack as he continued to lead everyone through the ever growing forest.

"Yeah Chess! It's not about the fighting!" Another voice spoke up, clearly mocking the cadet named Chess.

"Same goes for you Archer!" Another voice spoke up, teasing the boy that had previously mocked Chess.

Cloud could see Zack shake his head and quietly groan. He didn't blame the older teen one bit, putting up with this bunch was stressful to say the least. There had been some days when the blonde just wanted to gut them all, except Shaedon. During the husky laughter and joking around, the group failed to hear the rustle of dry grass, and deep breaths evenly camouflaged into the environment. When the group got a little bit closer, the creature sprang from the cover of the tall grass and thick trees, loudly roaring.

Immediately, the cadets and Second class refocused on the space between them and the creature. Standing before them was none other than a baby Jabberwock, mewling and growling as the fur on its back began to stand on end.

Jabberwocks were in the same bestiary class as Behemoths, but they were far more faster and intelligent than their distant relatives. Baby Jabbers weren't dangerous at all, but it was the adolescents and adults that could pack a heavier punch than a full grown Behemoth. In the 'Big Beast' world, Jabberwocks were the kings and at the top of the food chain to boot.

"Pfft! It's just a baby!" The boy named Chess snorted, beginning to dryly laugh. He stepped out of line and approached the two foot tall Jabber with solid white fur and black spots, just like a leaperd.

"Cadet Pierce! Return to your post! Zack barked, unsheathing his sword.

He really didn't want to hurt the baby creature. One, they were harmless and docile unless provoked or trespassing in their territory. Two, if the baby was around, then so were the parents, and those weren't as timid matured as the young ones. If any other kind of living being stepped within ten feet of a baby, the adults would immediatly charge onto the scene and dismember the violator.

"Relax, Sir. I can handle this." Chess cockily responded. He stopped just a foot or two away from the snarling baby Jabber.

"I mean it, Pierce! Get back in line!" Zack growled, loosing all of his patience in that one minute. Cloud gulped. He never wanted to get on the ravenette's bad side.

Chess ignored his superior officer's demands, and instead, pulled his foot back and kicked the baby Jabberwock right in the face. The tiny creature hurdled through the air before crashing into a tree. It fell to the ground with a sickening thud, unmoving, silent and still. The baby Jabber was dead. The deep copper red haired trooper smirked, then dusted his hands off like it was nothing.

"Do you realize what you've done!?" The ravenette cried, his eyes hardened in anger by this point. The cadet didn't have to kill the innocent baby Jabber. They could have gone around it or something. After all, they were the ones who came into Their territory, uninvited I might add.

Almost right after, a louder and deeper growl could be heard in the distance, as well as rushing footsteps thudding against the ground. They were in for it now. Within a matter of seconds, an adult male Jabberwock lunged from behind the trees, paws and claws out and ready to strike.

Daddy was here.

The large beast snorted at Chess, it's beady yellow eyes glaring daggers into the troopers eyes. It glanced over to the right to see its baby lying on the ground. With a loud whimper, the adult Jabberwocky rushed towards its fallen child. It used it's snout to gently nudge the still body. The whimpering grew frantic, and the beast now began to slap at the body with one of its massive paws. After a few more moments of loud whimpers and smacking around a lifeless body, the beast came to the conclusion that its baby was dead.

With eyes as blood-lusting as a serial killer, it narrowed into Chess, somehow knowing he was the reason its baby was dead. With a loud roar and a massive growl, the Jabberwock bared it's thick and long fangs from behind his curled and snarling snout. Its claws dug deep into the ground, and the beast threw its head back with a mighty monstrous cry.

"Pierce...Back in line...Now." Zack slowly ordered, making sure to slowly draw his weapon. The other cadets began to do the same, knowing where this was going to end.

As soon as Chess began to scamper back to the squad, the Jabberwock began to run at him, snarling and growling loudly. Thick saliva was dripping from its tounge and teeth as its eyes never lost sight of its main target. The Second class lunged at the adult, with a mighty battle cry, he lifted his sword above his head and swung down, nicking the great beast's defined jawline. The Jabber jumped back, growling and snarling still. It looked only slightly phased from the wound, but it shook his head and quickly disregarded the pain.

"All of you! Attack!" Zack ordered to the squad behind him.

The troopers wasted no time in drawing their rifles and firing at the large beast that stood at seven feet even on all fours. Small rounds were fired off in the monsters direction. A few grazed it, some struck, and most of them missed. Even with the pain of bullets coursing through its body, it shook off the pain, swiping at the masses and roaring at them.

"Keep your distance!" The ravenette demanded, making sure none of the squad members would get injured. He'd do all the hand to hand combat against the beast.

A few cadets ignored the request and rushed at the beast with their nightsticks, aiding Zack on the front lines, while most of the troopers backed them up with bullets. Cloud stood off to the side, unsure of what to do. Should he attack the Jabber head on? Or provide a shield of bullets like most of the others? The blonde didn't know what to do right now!

"C'mon Cloud! Let's help Lieutenant Fair!" Shaedon spoke over the gunfire, appearing right next to the blonde's side. He had a light grasp on Cloud's right arm, and for once, his smile didn't look so creepy. Probably because his teeth weren't showing.

"Right! Let's go, Shae!" The older cadet said, putting on his game face and finding some courage locked deep down inside. Pumping his fists by his side, a look of determination etched his way into a small smirk on his face.

Wasting no more time, He and Shaedon pulled out their nightsticks, readying them in their dominant hand. Cloud's weapon in his right, and Shaedon's in his left. With a cry of effort, the two rushed towards the front lines, pushing past Zack and the others to land a blow to the Jabberwocky's eyes. The mighty monster let out a shrill screech and staggered back, shaking it's head back and forth quickly.

"Strife! Lancastor! Good job!" The ravenette praised, a smirk of pride beginning to grow on his face. His student was beginning to pull through. Now to see what he could accomplish with all those months of training under his belt.

The Jabber recovered from the blow to its eyes, and now seemed to be in more of a fury than ever. It'd show these people the true meaning of fear. He growled loudly, then began to run at the front lines. The troopers and single Second class readied for a strike, but at the last possible second, the beast jumped over the small brave group of seven and landed on half of the back lines, digging its claws into their tender flesh, easily able to shred their flimsy uniforms.

The cadets in the back row began to cry out and shoot wildly at the beast. Their aim became poor, and each shot missed the beast by a mile. The Jabber swiped its massive claws at the others, knocking them over and sending them flying. The troopers that had been landed on were all littered with holes and bleeding out, slowly dying and suffocating in their own blood.

"Hey, ugly! Over here!" Zack shouted, trying to get the Jabberwocky's attention. He needed to get it away from the remaining cadets.

The beast turned its head around quickly, growling in anger at the insult. It spun around and charged at the ravenette, who barely had enough time to barrel roll out of the way.

As the Second class recovered from the roll, the Jabber was already on his heels once more, and not being able to react fast enough, the beast as able to slice Zack deeply on his right side with its talon like claws. The eighteen year old let out a cry of pain and staggered, his free hand holding his side which as beginning to bleed perfusively.

"Zack!" Cloud exclaimed, his face draining of all color and becoming as pale as the virgin moon.

"I'm fine, Cloud. Don't worry about me. Show me what you can do!" The ravenette encouraged, brushing off his own wound like it was nothing.

The blonde gnashed his teeth together, gritting them tightly as his eyes hardened in anger. "Son of a bitch!" He screamed, rushing at the Jabberwocky with pure hate festering behind his eyes, running rampad through his blood like a disease.

With all the strength he could muster, he jammed the nightstick into's the beasts' eye, deeply. The creature screeched and fling its head around, but the blonde only dug the weapon in deeper, not letting up until he knew the eye was going to be pushed back deep inside it's skull, back out through the sockets where the optic nerve slid through. When the Jabber finally pulled away and flung Cloud back, blood began to squirt out of the hole where its eye used to be. It was now lodged deep within its own head.

The remaining numbers of eleven began to attack and shoot at the beast, making it slowly began to cower back. When it glanced down to the ground, it only saw its dead baby, and its rage returned ten fold. With now lightning speed and strength, the Jabber was able to lunge back at the cadets firing at it, and easily swiped its massive claws at them, not stopping until they were hacked to bits or decapitated. It kept going, until only the Brave Seven remained. As it looked back at them, its eyes were stone cold., rivaling that of the darkest skies.

This Jabberwocky would not rest until its child's death was avenged. If only Chess hadn't killed it, they wouldn't be in this mess, with countless bodies and blood littering the ground in a sickening display. Zack was still slouched as he stood, his bleeding wound never letting up once.

The Jabber saw him as easy prey. With a mighty roar, he lunged at the ravenette. He scrunched his eyes shut tight, he had tried to move, but it had caused too much pain. This wouldn't end good unless he could find a way to move.

When the beast lunged, its teeth bared, the ravenette waited for the stinging pain. But it never came. Slowly opening his eyes, panic began to race through his veins and make him bleed faster. Cloud had just jumped in the way, and was now taking a large bite into the left shoulder. He was grunting in pain, trying to push the beast away from his significant other. He wouldn't allow this abomination to hurt the Second class any more.

"Cloud!" Shaedon and Zack cried at the same time.

The youngest teen was able to leap into action and smack the Jabberwocky in the snout with his nightstick. A few others joined in to save their comrade and superior officer, smaking the big beast around as well. The Jabber finally let go and jumped back, snarling and growling at them as it did so. Cloud's right hand immediately squeezed his injured left shoulder, and he grit his teeth through the pain, still making choked grunting noises.

The beast finally had enough of these damned humans trespassing in its territory and killing its baby. It was time to stop playing and get serious. With a mighty howl, the creature charged at four of the cadets that had broken away from Shaedon, Cloud, and Zack. It cornered the four against the trees, and with its claws, sliced them all in half. Tears slipped out of Cloud's eyes, Zack hung his head down while scoffing harshly to himself, and Shaedon gritted his teeth together, becoming utterly pissed.

The Jabberwocky turned away from the bloody massacre against the tree trunks and padded it's way up to the remaining three, the blood around it's eye now clotting and drying up, staining the yellow bead into a fushia purple with dots of crimson red. Before any of the three could react, the beast smacked Shaedon into a tree, knocking the trooper out cold. It then snorted in his general direction.

The Jabber finally knocked down the number of humans to two, excluding the new unconscious one. After all this fighting, the beast was starting to get hungry, and it wanted a fresh meal that wouldn't put up much of a fight.

Delicately sniffing at the air, the creature searched for a familiar scent of a place it often used to make its squirmish prey easily fall limp. When his nose locked onto the scent, his powerful jaws nipped at Cloud, maxilla and mandible clamped down in the blonde's chest and back, sinking in an inch or so to maintain a strong grip. The blonde let out a cry of pain as blood bubbled up from his mouth. With quick reflexes, the little cadet was swooped up into the air, clutched in the jaws of the monster.

Zack's eyes were wide the whole time. This was no time to let pain keep him immobile, not with his precious blonde in the jawls of the beast. As the Jabberwocky began to walk off, the ravenette began to limp his way after, this Gaiadamned pain could not slow him down! The Jabber ignored the fact that the near incapacitated Second class was following it. It wasn't like the black haired man would be able to do anything in his condition anyway. The blonde cadet in his mouth was groaning, barely able to hang on to his fleeting consciousness. He was already getting limp? Well that would be no fun!

After a few more quick steps, the beast arrived at the place to make even the wildest of prey weak and lifeless. A Mako Pool. A deep one at that. Cloud's eyes widened in fright. Not this, anything but this! The fear of drowning in the thick green liquid came back to him all at once.

He remembered Rosie, the searing pain throughout his body, the pain of drowning, and the fear coursing through his skull. Before he could think any more thoughts, he was dropped into the liquid, and the searing pain began immediately as he began to sink to the darkness down below, too weak to try and break the surface.

Zack had seen the Jabber drop the blonde into the Mako Pool, then howl in victory as it hopped up and down, excited for its soon to be feast. Not under his watch! The ravenette needed to kill the Jabberywocky before rescuing the blonde, otherwise, they'd both be on the menu. As adrenaline pumped through his body, and even as the blood began to start clogging and causing immense pain, the Second class was able to lift his sword like nothing, and bring it down onto the beast's back paw.

The creature let out a screech and whirled around, anger burning behind its one good eye. How had the weak human conjured up enough strength to slice it? No matter, this mortal would soon be mince meat. But unfortunatly for the Jabberwocky, Zack didn't plan on dying just yet.

With a battle cry of effort, he began to hack and slash at the beast, somehow anticipating the beast's next move, and how it would strike. Cloud's life was on the line, and he wasn't going to let the light of his life die away in the eternal darkness only death could bring.

He stabbed the Jabber in the legs, the shoulders, the paws, face, head, and back. With one final blow, he jabbed the sword into its underbelly and sliced it open, and the intestines came tumbling out and coating the ground in bodily fluids, organs, and gallons of blood.

The Jabberwock finally fell over and died, just like how its baby did a mere thirty minutes ago. Not stalling any longer, Zack dove into the Mako Pool, energy still festering within his body. Since the Second class had been showered in the substance a few times before, the liquid did not affect him.

In fact, some of the Mako turned into ribbon like strands, swirling around his scratch wounds and taking the pain and fresh blood away. As relief flooded into the ravenette, more determination and willpower, not to mention strength, were boosted into near euphoric levels. He scoured the depths of the green pool, searching for the blonde in any direction he could look. Not finding him, he knew he had to dive deeper. He had to hurry, the blonde had been under for over five minutes. All this pure and unconcintraited Mako was only going to do the blonde harm.

It got darker the further down Zack went, and it was getting harder to see, especially in the stillness of the night. But after a few more moments, he saw the cadet. He was floating face down in the Mako, unconscious by this point. Swimming faster, the Second class reached Cloud's weak looking body and wrapped an arm around his waist.

He quickly began to swim up, needing to get them to the surface. It felt as if the surface of the liquid was only getting father away the faster he swam. He kicked his legs harder, trying to go faster. After what felt like an eon, he finally broke through, pulling Cloud up with him.

Zack paddled over to the edge of the pool, lifting the blonde out and onto the solid ground. He pulled himself out next, then hovered over Cloud's still body. he was colder than ice. Gently resting his ear against the cadet's chest, he soon found out that the trooper had quit breathing, and his heart was not beating. Becoming frantic, the ravenette began to perform CPR, pumping at his chest firmly. Gaia knows how long he did that alone.

"C'mon, Cloudy. Stop being stubborn! Don't you make me do mouth-to-mouth on you!" Zack exclaimed, as if that was more of a threat than something that could actually bring the blonde back. A few more times, he pumped away on the cadet's chest. He still got no response or a heartbeat.

"Fine, but you asked for it!" The ravenette cried, beginning to preform mouth-to-mouth, as well as the standard CPR method. By this point, there were tears swelling in his eyes. He was scared.

After another minute, Cloud finally came back, coughing and sputtering. The Second class sighed in sweet relief, then held the small cadet close to him, tightly as well. He nuzzled his face in the crook of the blonde's neck, like he always did. He actually felt a hot tear of two squeeze out of his eye. He was so relieved he was able to bring his precious ray of sunshine back to him. But he noticed the trooper's coughs were quiet and shallow. Pulling away from the younger teen, ne noticed his eyes were radiating with that eerie sky blue that only Mako could do.

Worry and fear came racing back into Zack's heart at that moment. Gaia please don't let it be true. Don't let Cloud have Mako Poisoning. Hoisting the blonde up into his arms, he stood up, then needed to hurry back to the rendezvous site where the others should be waiting at this time. The moon had ascended high into the sky. So the time was probably eight at night. Eight was when they were to meet back at the clearing, documents and samples in hand or not.

Passing the area where many had died to defend themselves against the Jabberwocky, Shaedon was there, looking around for someone aimlessly, but in his hands, he had a can of soda.

When the heck did he get that? That was not important at the moment though. Cloud's health, and life, were still hanging by just a thread that was ready to snap in any given moment. The younger teen saw the two approach, then pass by. He knew he had to follow them without a word.

As the three passed by the fallen bodies, they bowed their heads in respect, honoring their sacrifices. The three began to go back the way they came no more than an hour or two ago, except this time, they would meet in a clearing within the fields, that way a medical chopper or two could land and take away the injured. After walking over fallen tree limbs and heavy underbrush, the two cadets and one SOLDIER made it to the clearing. Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis had already arrived with their units. When they heard footsteps coming from the south, the turned their heads to see what it was.

When Angeal saw his student -Which hadn't been training under him as of late- covered in dried blood, with an unconscious Cloud in his arms, and a bruised up Shaedon, questions began to rack around in the first class' head. He hurriedly approached the three, eyes widening ever so slightly. Sephiroth's eyes did not widen, but they narrowed in near confusion. He had never been good at expressing much concern. Genesis just remained silent, taking his eyes off the three to look elsewhere.

"Zack? What on Gaia happened?" Angeal quickly asked, looking the three over. He didn't even need to ask where the others were. They had perished. It was obvious.

"Our unit encountered an adult Jabberwocky and suffered greatly. All of our squad members were felled except these two. Lancastor here is fine, and can return to the ship and get standard care in the infirmary there. Cloud is another story though..." Zack began to explain. When talking bout the blonde to his three friends, he did not use the proper military code of calling lower ranks by last name, especially this cadet that he had grown to love over the months.

"The Jabberwocky threw him into a deep Mako Pool, I would say it was about ten feet deep, maybe eleven. He was down there for a total of seven minutes I would guess. He was already unconscious when I pulled him out. I was able to bring him back after four minutes of CPR, and I suspect he has...Mako poisoning. The ravenette spoke, beginning to choke up at the mention of the Mako poisoning.

Angeal rested his hand on top of Zack's head, giving a light ruffle before speaking. "Don't worry. The medical chopper should be here in a few minutes." He reassured.

By this time, Shaedon had silently excused himself to return to the ship. He said he'd see his little blonde friend and everyone else later, then departed without another word. But then something peculiar happened. Sephiroth spoke up, grabbing the attention of the group.

"How long was Cloud down there?" The silverette asked, his tone dead serious.

"Seven minutes." Zack responded, seeming to hold the Mako soaked blonde a little tighter in his arms.

"Just as I thought...He has Mako Poisoning for a fact. But sadly, it's the worst case..." The twenty-two year old grumbled.

"You mean...Level seven addiction?" Genesis spoke up, his milky green eyes now turning their attention to the comatose cadet, then towards Sephiroth.

"No. I'm talking about...Level eight addiction." Was his blunt response.  
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_A/N: Goodness gracious great balls of fire! Chappie two is FINALLY done! M-my poor butt...I think it's been asleep for so long it fell into a coma... T-T Man, what'd ya think of them apples? :D I had so much fun typing this chapter! (Well, my butt didn't...) I bet you it's longer than chapter one! 0o0_

_Well, don't forget to drop a review to tell me what you thought, or any kind of feedback! If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will answer them ;)_

_Alrighty everyone, until the next chappie! And as always..._

_Toodles! :D_  
_~Zimithrus1_


	3. Chapter 3: Contamination and Quarintine

_Whoo! Chapter three of our redone Mako Mutations is out and ready for a reading! :D You know, I actually wrote all three of these chapters only a few days after the other, I just haven't gotten around to uploading them ^^; Well, enough up top,_  
_let's see what's simmering down below! Enjoy! :)  
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_ ~XChapter 3: Contamination and Quarantine~_

Zack was more than on edge by this point. The small chopper had arrived no more than three minutes ago, and all five men had crammed their way inside. Cloud was still tightly wrapped up in the ravenette's arms, and was refusing to let him go for anything. The blonde was deathly quiet, and the paleness of his skin rivaled the untouched purity of a fresh virgin snow. Conditions inside the helicopter were cramped at best, most of their knees were bumping into each other, and bodies were nearly sandwiched together.

Not a single soul had uttered a word since Sephiroth had last spoken. It felt almost as if everyone was too afraid to break the deafening silence. It was the kind of quiet that would make your ears ring. Cloud's condition had only gotten worse upon being resuscitated, his breathing had become shallow and slow, and the longer they waited, the colder he became. The trooper could not even blink at this point in time.

The clear night sky had soon become dark and clouded, and on occasion, the chopper bounced in the slight turbulence. There was bound to be a storm coming in from the north. After many more moments of ear ringing silence, the Second class decided this reign of quietness needed to be broken.

"Sephiroth...What did you mean when you said that Cloud had level eight in terms of Mako Addiction? There are only seven, right?" Zack spoke up, pulling his eyes away from the comatose blonde below him for only a moment.

"To the public, yes. To those like myself, the president, and the science department, then no. To the Alpha's, not to mention the medical team, there is one more level of addiction." The silverette began to explain, almost sounding a bit relieved now that this tension hanging dourly in the air had been severed.

"That is?" Zack urged, his gloved grip on his dimming sunshine growing tighter.

"To get a better understanding on how dangerous level eight is, I'll explain the other seven. You see, level one is known as 'Regular Intake.' In which is extremely harmless, even an infant could posses this level and still live. Then there is level two, which is known as 'Small Outbreak.' This is the level that third and second class SOLDIER's are doused with. Only small enough to enhance physical strength and stability. Level three is known as 'Moderate Outbreak.' In which, what we firsts are showered with. Still not toxic or dangerous, but the right amount increases Mental and physical stability. Level four is know as "Small Contamination.' Which is only dangerous when one person has been exposed to say, a Mako Pool, for one minute. It's not too bad and they recover as if it was only a small flu."

Sephiroth paused for a quick breather. When it came to this kind of stuff, it was tiresome and sometimes difficult to explain. Zack had not taken his eyes off the silverette once, as if looking at him would help him retain the information better. Yet as his eyes were distracted, his hands were not. They still gripped at the small blonde securely wrapped in his broad arms.

"Level five is when the side effects become more severe. This level is known as "Moderate contamination.' This happens when exposed to a Mako Pool for three minutes, this is when dangerous side affects take place, such as muscle spasms, and slight comatose. Level six is known as 'Large Contamination.' This happens when exposed to Mako for four minutes. The side effects for six are muscle spasms, a heavier form of comatose, and prolonged recovery rate. They recover in a few weeks, but are weak internally, such as walking, talking, basic motor skills. Level seven is known as 'Quarantine.' Where one is exposed to Mako for five minutes. The sides effects for this causes heavy comatose, prolonged fever and aches, and decresion of motor skills, again, affecting one's ability to walk or talk, and other things necessary to survive."

Genesis and Angeal were silent as the silverette explained, but none the less, they were attentive. Their eyes were focused either at the ground, or out the small helicopter window. The clouds had gotten relatively thicker in the past few minutes, and a low grumble signaled a storm would be upon them soon.

"Level eight, is known as 'Contamination and Quarantine.' This level is the most deadly. This level occurs when one has been exposed to Mako for over six minutes. This causes prolonged comatose, sickness, seizures, high amounts of blood contamination, dangerously high fevers, and mental and physical brain wave decrease. In a way, they become more like sick and helpless premature birthed infants. But that is not even the worst. From what I've read, if they do survive, within a week or two of signs of showing recovery, something terrible happens and they are changed forever. That's all it said, it never went into detail." Sephiroth said, finally finishing his explanation of Mako levels and their side affects.

Zack's grip on Cloud became even tighter by this point. The more he knew, the more he wished he could forget. As his hold tightened, the ravenette noticed there was something peculiar happening with the blonde. Only a few seconds ago, he was colder than ice. Now all of a sudden, he felt like fire itself. His body only continued to heat up like this until the blonde began to heavily sweat, and his breathing became more quick and panicked.

"He's burning up." The Second class said, eyes nearly gluing themselves to the feverish blonde in his arms.

This drew the attention of the others situated across from the Second class, and their eyes settled upon the blonde. His condition was only getting worse as time progressed. It was almost as if the others could hear his internal clock ticking out its final moments. The trooper was immobile as ever, but they could see faint signs of his fingers beginning to twitch, and the sweat covering his body was beginning to glisten and become more visible. His fever had already hit this fast, and no doubt about it, it was severe as well.

"Don't worry. We'll be back in Midgar in about five minutes.' Angeal spoke up, taking it into his hands to calm the ravenette down, which was now beginning to freak out and blubber near nonsense by this point.

"I can't just 'calm down', Angeal!" Zack shouted, great emotion swelling within his voice. The older ravenette could have sworn he saw evidence of future tears nipping behind the Second class' eyes.

The eighteen year old had subconsciously tightened his grip around the blonde even fiercer than before, nearly digging his fingernails into the trooper's skin, past his gloves and the blue fabric of the infantryman uniform. The twitching in Cloud's fingers only intencified, getting to the point where his whole arm was beginning to tremble.

"What were the symptoms again? I think the little cadet is showing another one." Genesis spoke up, noting the rapid twitching in the blonde's arm, seeming to spread throughout his body slowly.

The question was left as a rhetorical one, but the silverette did glance over at Cloud to observe his declining condition. The shaking only continued to get worse, until his entire body began to twitch. In seconds, the blonde was beginning to seize and violently shake and tremble. Fever and seizures happened to be one of the first side effects of level eight addiction. Zack curled his body around the trooper's shaking one, holding him down it seemed. The young ravenette could have sworn he heard insanity knocking at the door of his mind, as well as his heart packing its' bags and getting ready to split, so to speak.

Within the minute, the helicopter finally landed on Shin-Ra's roof, and the blades began to slow down. By this point in time, the rain began to drizzle down to the parched earth below. Al ow grumble of thunder signaled that the storm as nearly right over them. Sephiroth was the first to leave the chopper, followed by Genesis, then Angeal.

Before departing from the copter, Zack tenderly placed a quick kiss on the blonde's scorching hot forehead. He quickly hopped out, then made a beeline straight to the infermery, not even checking to see if the others had followed behind. He thought about using the stairs, but the infirmary was on floor sixty, and that was ten flights of stairs. He would fair better taking the elevator.

So that's what the ravenette did. He went down one flight of stairs, and pushed open the door, quickly dashing to the elevators with an armful of temporarily useless and shaky cadet. He skidded to a stop upon reaching said place, but only grit his teeth and muttered a quick profanity. The elevators were currently out of service. Wasting no more time, he dashed back to the stairwell, bursting through the door, then hurdling himself down the stairs as quick as he could. Cloud's fever only seemed to get worse, even if the shaking wasn't as violent as before.

After five minutes of running down the seemingly endless flights of concrete steps, he arrived at the right floor. He opened up the door, and he was completely out of breath. He was panting heavily and gulping down air as he re-cooperated for only a moment. He was about to take a step forward and ask for help, but was stopped by a nurse he happened to be acquainted with.

Her name was Xzena, and she had choppy black hair that was short in the back, and long in the front. She had a single forest green streak down the left side of her hair, and she had piercing emerald green eyes. She had on her regulated white coat, but a plain black t-shirt underneath, and a red and black plaid skirt. The shirt had been low cut, and if had been any lower, some cleavage would have slipped right out of the fabric.

"What's your hurry, Zack?" She spoke, keeping her humor and sarcasm to herself for now, seeing how worked up the ravenette was.

He was about to speak up, but Sephiroth appeared and beat him to the punch. He said that Cloud had level eight Mako Addiction and needed to be stabilized immediately. The nurse did not ask questions when she heard what was wrong with the feverish blonde in the Second Class' arms. Instead she barked harsh orders at some other nurses by the reception desk and ordered them to get a doctor and a room ready at once. One nurse brought a stretched over, and Xzena told Zack to place Cloud on it so they could take him.

The ravenette was hesitant at first, not wanting to stop holding his significant other just yet, but he knew if he lingered any longer, the precious blonde could die right then and there. With a heavy heart, he layed the incapacitated trooper on the stretcher gently. Almost immediately after the ravenette's broad arms let the smaller male go, the female ravenette quick wheeled the stretcher down a long hallway, before turning right upon reaching the end of the hall. A doctor or two followed after, as well as another nurse for assistance.

Zack was just about to follow, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. When he turned around, all of the others had caught up to him. The others were not as out of breath as he was, nor did they looked as worried. They did, however, look concerned and sincere. Well, Angeal did. Sephiroth looked indifferent as always, and Genesis seemed to find an interest in staring at a painting on the wall, excluding himself from the conversation that would soon unfurl, temporarily of course. Angeal removed his hand from the younger ravenette's shoulder.

"I know you want to rush off and see him, but we still have to report the mission and our findings to the Director." The First class spoke honestly.

"It can't wait?" Zack impatiently snapped, feeling on edge right now. His patience level was near rock bottom. He didn't want to do anything else until he knew Cloud wasn't knocking on death's door at the moment.

"Sadly, no. Besides, you have to tell the Director about the losses the infantry suffered." Sephiroth decided to cut in before Angeal could explain.

Zack looked relatively annoyed by this point, and he was so tensed up and angry at the moment, you could have sworn to see steam pouring out of his ears. His face was even reddened with all the emotions he was currently feeling. He quickly brushed past the others, wanting to get this out of the way already.

"Well? Come on. Let's get this over with!" The ravenette grunted, throwing open the door to the stairwell and disappearing as he ascended the steps.

"Still just like a puppy I see." Genesis mused, following behind said 'puppy' towards the stairwell.

Angeal and Sephiroth also followed along, but they remained silent as they walked. The elevators being broken was a real pain, but none of the men let it show. One could only imagine of having to take the stairs in some kind of emergency from the ground floor, up to floor fifty. Someone would probably ask 'How many floors does this place have?'. But for Zack, the only thing on his mind right now was Cloud. As soon as this mission briefing was done and over with, he'd run straight back to the infirmary to check up on his precious blonde.

The ravenette's heart was hammering in his chest, and anxiety was burning in his body and festering in his blood like a rampid disease. He found his fingers to be twitching in anticipation and fear. He clenched his fists tightly and swallowed hard.

All he could do was hope to the Goddess that his little Chocobo would make it through this...  
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_A/N: And there's chapter three for you guys! :) It's not as long as one or two, but it's a decent amount I suppose. Thanks to all the people that have faved, followed, and reviewed this story! You guys make my day! Oh, and for the part of running up the stairs, ground floor to fifty, that was an Orginal Game reference! :D At the part where you have the option to either barge in through the front doors of Shin-Ra to rescue Aerith, or take the stairs XD I never took the stairs, I did once and hated it!_

_I'll see you all in the next chapter, and as always..._

_Toodles! :)_  
_~Zimithrus1_


	4. Chapter 4: Solicitous

_Huzzah! Chapter four of our redone Mako Mutations is out and ready to read! :D I've been addicted to this story since I figured out how to rework it, which is a good and bad thing for me ^^; I update this one more than usual, but that means all my other stories gotta pay the price (Broken crayons, and Mako Eyes to name a few). Anyways, since I liked the word count of chapters one and two better, I'm going to try and make five to six thousand words my quota per chapter :D Well, let's get started then!  
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_ ~XChapter 4: Solicitous~_

Zack was impatiently bouncing on the balls of his feet, an annoyed glower on his face. Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth looked calm and collected beside him as they waited. The four had arrived at Director Lazard's office to report on the mision, but the sandy blonde haired man was nowhere to be found at the moment. The computer was still on, and had yet to go to screensaver mode, so the Director couldn't have been gone for very long.

It was silent, save for the harsh breathing of an impatient Second class, and the soft ticking of an analog clock hanging from the far wall behind the large wooden desk. Other than that, the four remained silent and did not speak with one another. Angeal stood at attention, sharp and straight with his hands behind his back. Sephiroth stood as somewhat attention, having his arms folded comfortably across his chest. Genesis was standing, but not at attention, and he had occupied his time with LOVELESS, softly flipping the pages as he skimmed through the lines. Zack only continued to bounce, and on occasion, sigh in an exasperated manner.

Seconds felt like minutes, while minutes felt like hours. Therefore, it seemed like eons before Lazard finally walked back into his office, via the elevator. He walked past the four and situated himself at his desk, leaning back in his black swivel chair. His blue eyes, masked with a faint glare from his glasses and the room's lighting, looked up at the four standing in front of his desk. Upon glancing at Zack, an amused smile only slid across his face before he spoke up.

"Glad to see you're all here. Did the mission go well?" Lazard said, retaining that same smile on his face as he asked.

"Unit nine, and myself, were able to find a few pages of the requested documents. They were scattered around by the edge of the forest, near the shoreline to be precise." Sephiroth spoke up, stepping out of the once unified line to pull said documents from his tench coat and hand them to the Director.

Lazard took the documents from Shin-Ra's Alpha, then quickly skimmed through the pages to see if they were on order, or how many had been found. He raised his right hand, clothed in a white glove, and adjusted the silver framed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose to get a better look at the chicken-scratch on each paper. Most of the documents had been collected, but a few pages appeared to be missing. Thankfully, all of the vital pieces of information had been retrieved. The Director looked up from the documents, placing them to the side for now, then waited to hear who would speak next.

"Genesis, myself, and units three and seven, were able to locate a few of the specified samples. We found these near the edge of the forest, scattered among the shrubs." Angeal spoke up next.

Sephiroth stood back, falling into line again as the older ravenette took stand by Lazard's desk. In his hands was a vial or two of strangely colored liquid, and what appeared to be a container with something moving inside. The Director eyed the lump in the container with arched eyebrows, wondering what it was without a need for words. The vials and container were placed delicately onto the wooden desk, and Lazard further studied the items, then compared them to the documents received from earlier. The lump in the plastic prison shuddered, then moved to a corner in its' home, remaining there. The blonde decided to keep the lid on and move it over to the side where the documents rest.

"Me and unit thirteen scoured the forest, a guy killed a baby Jabber, its' parent came and got mad, killed everyone except two people, and we found nothing, okay bye!" Zack exclaimed in one breath, not giving anyone time to process what he actually said.

The young ravenette then spun on his heel, and nearly began to walk out of the room. The back of his uniform had been seized however, right at the top of the turtleneck, and he was yanked back towards his former place in line. The Second class looked up with apprehensive and impatient eyes at the man who had dragged him back. His eyes met with Angeal's and he was greeted with a stern glare and silence. Lazard however, had an amused smile plastered on his pale face. No matter what the situation, the young Second class had always been impudent and antsy to get out of these meetings.

"Alright. Unit thirteen and I headed into the forest. We scoured the area for hours and found nothing, but we did have a scarce encounter with a baby Jabberwocky. One of the unit members, guy by the name of Chess Pierce, kicked it into a tree and killed it. Its' parent found out and slaughtered the whole unit, save for myself and two cadets. The first cadet was fine, but the second is in critical condition down in the infirmary." Zack spoke, adding more detail.

"I see. Since most of our items of retrieval have been found, I suppose you are all dismissed. Especially you, Fair. You look as if you're going to explode." Lazard said with a little laugh at the end.

Knowing it was okay to scurry, The Second class immediately spun on his heel and hurried out the door, not even bothering to wait up for anyone else. The Director had noted that the young ravenette seemed a bit more hyped to get out of here than usual. Angeal, seeing the look in the blonde's eyes, figured he should explain his student's erratic behavior.

"My apologies, Sir. But Zack's solicitous side is showing through. The cadet that was brought here in critical condition happens to be the little infantryman that the Puppy is going steady with at the moment." The older ravenette explained. He waited for the Director to respond before he took his leave as well.

This time, Zack had picked an elevator that was in working order and boarded it, pressing the button that would take him to floor sixty. As the steel doors closed at the small box began to ascend, the young ravenette found himself frantically pacing back and forth, glancing up at the floor numbers displayed in a digital box every five seconds. Questions racked around in his head, causing him to get a small headache in his sinuses. Was Cloud alright? Did he die? Happened to be the two major ones floating around right now.

As soon as the little bell dinged and the doors opened up, the Second class flung himself from the little box and onto the correct floor. His heart was hammering in his chest and nervous butterflies had risen from his stomach, to his throat. he tried to take a deep breath to qualm his anxiousness, but it did him no good. His fingers had begun to shake and twitch. Before proceeding onward, he clenched his gloved hands into fists and took another deep breath to get himself prepared.

"Zack?" A sudden voice spoke up. Xzena had snuck up beside him without him noticing. The preparation that the ravenette had managed to gather all but left him now.

"Xzen', it's just you. Tell me, is Cloud alright?" The Second class quickly asked, making haste with his question. He wanted to hear how he was right now, no idling.

The female ravenette's eyes went sullen, and a sad smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Whatever news she had to share, it wasn't going to be good. Her hands clasped together in front of her, and she nervously began to wring her fingers out, looking over to the side of the male ravenette, rather than head on. She tried to figure out how to word this and keep the blow as soft as possible.

"Well...We got him stabilized, but he's not looking too well, I'm afraid to say." She spoke, finally letting her forest green eyes glance into worried electric blue eyes.

Zack swallowed a thick lump in his throat, and his fists clenched even tighter. He kept silent for a moment, knowing if he spoke now, his voice would only crack and break. What did the nurse mean by 'not too well'? If he had been stabilized, you think he would be doing at least a little better than before. Had his condition gotten worse since the helicopter flight back here? More than likely, that was going to be the case. Xzena began to walk down a long stretch of hall, and signaled the ravenette to follow beside her. They must be going to Cloud's room.

"Most of his blood had been thoroughly contaminated with large quantities of Mako. In order to stabilize him, we had to make him bleed it out. So, we removed the contaminated blood and we have him hooked up to some transfusions right now. He's going to be on them for awhile." Xzena explained as the two kept walking down the hall. She took a breath before continuing her explanation.

"We got him to stop seizing as well, but I'm afraid with all of the Mako contamination, he's been put under heavy comatose. As of right now, he can't even blink. If a level nine existed, he would be just a few ounces of pollution away from it." The young nurse finished up.

By the time Xzena had finished her explanation, the two were standing right in front of a plain white door, and numbers and letters decorated the steel plaque under the small window above it. Zack realized he had never seen this wing of the infirmary before. This must be some sort of ICU area. The numbers and letters on the plaque had been read as 'Room two o' eight. Patient: Cloud Strife'. The Second class felt a small hand on his shoulder, and when he looked down, the female ravenette was casting him a sad smile.

"I'll give you a few minutes to visit. I'll be back to check on you soon." She spoke. With that, she removed her small hand from his shoulder, then began to walk away, disappearing from his line of sight when she took a right, returning to the front desk.

Zack's eyes went back to look at that name-tag on the door. The longer he stared at it, the more his heart hurt in a way. His chest was aching, and the trembling in his fingers started up again, only increasing tenfold by this time. He swallowed another thick lump, gripping the doorknob tightly in his grasp. The metal had been cold, even through his gloves and it chilled his clammy fingers. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, bracing himself for what he was about to see.

He turned the cold knob, and slowly cracked the door open. He kept his eyes downcast, too afraid to look up. He kept his head down as he closed the door in that same quiet manner. The door shut with a soft click, and he finally looked up. His breath hitched in his chest, and his heart began to beat hard and loud, slamming itself against the body of his manubrium. There lay Cloud, eyes open and radiating brightly. He had two blood transfusions hooked up to his left and right arm at the same time. He had breathing tubes and an IV hooked up to him. He was so pale he rivaled the appearance of a corpse.

Zack slowly approached his bed, almost too afraid to keep looking into the blonde's eyes. It was as if his eyes followed the ravenette's every moment, even though they were completely stationary. He pulled up a chair, sitting by one of the nearby walls, and sat down on it. The steady beeping of the cardiac monitor was the only thing that reassured the Second class that his little Chocobo was actually alive. Carefully, the ravenette ran a gloved hand through the blonde's impossibly spiky hair. He received no hum of appreciation for his actions like he usually did, but instead was given silence.

Upon further inspection, Zack realized that Cloud was even void of any coloring in his cheeks, and even though his eyes were brightly glowing, they looked dim and dying at the same time. His body was colder than ice, and rivaled the coldest winter storm. The ravenette grabbed some of the flimsy blankets covering the blonde's body in his free hand, then pulled them up and tucked them in close to the incapacitated cadet, right under his shoulders.

"Get well soon, Chocobo." Zack sadly stated, placing a tender kiss upon Cloud's cold forehead.

He stopped playing with the blonde's hair, then held his hands down in his lap. He sat there, gazing sadly at the one he loved in silence. Now, that beeping wasn't enough clearance to assure the ravenette that his ray of sunshine was doing fine. If only he had been stronger, then this wouldn't have happened. If he hadn't gotten attacked by that Jabberwocky, he could have saved the blonde, and the others as well. But what good would come out of brooding over the past? If anything, it would just serve to dampen what little bit of his spirits he still had left.

He gripped his pants in his fists tightly, his eyes glowering down at his lap, tears of anguish and anger fell from his eyes as a choked hiccup escaped past his lips. He closed his eyes tightly, and he could feel the bite of his nails past his gloves and fabric of his pants. He wouldn't know what to do if he lost his other half. Living without his sunshine wouldn't be living at all. He then leaned over the rails of the hospital bed, nuzzling his face into the crook of the blonde's neck.

"I'm sorry..." Was all he said, before he found comfort in weeping where he had laid his head.

By this time, Xzena had peeked her head in quietly to check up on them, and after seeing what she saw, she decided to leave the room without saying a word. She would let Zack stay there as long as he needed to.

_-0-0 [VII] 0-0-_

It was cold and dark here. Cloud was unsure which way he was facing, unsure which way was up or down. His eyes scanned through the pitch black darkness, but he was unable to make anything out. How did he get in a place like this? The last thing he remembered was hovering above that Mako Pool in the mouth of a Jabberwocky. What happened after that? He was pretty sure he had to be dead or something. But then again, if he was dead, he wouldn't be feeling any pain of fatigue now would he? Slowly, he rose to his feet in this empty void, looking all around for a source of light, but being unable to find one.

He shivered slightly and rubbed his arms together. This cold was really starting to get to him, and he was used to the cold, having grown up in the mountains. With no sense of direction, he began to walk, keeping his arms close to his chest to keep warm. Besides his own breathing, there were no sounds in this void. Nothing to smell, nothing to touch besides his own skin, and nothing to see past all this darkness. Minutes felt like hours to him, and it felt as if he was walking in circles. This never ending blackness was going to drive him crazy!

All of a sudden, he heard a garbled sounding voice. Cloud stopped walking and looked all around, trying to pinpoint where that voice had came from. he heard it once more. It sounded like it was coming from every direction. He anxiously looked around more frantically. This voice sounded so familiar, but who did it belong to? A dim light was beginning to form in the distance in front of him, not that far away! He began to run towards the dim light, nearly fumbling over his own footsteps. That voice echoed once more, and it was coming from the dim light!

He tried to run faster, once again nearly tripping over nothing. He wanted to feel that warm light against his skin, and he wanted to wake up from this dark and hellish nightmare! The light was nearly in reach now. Cloud stretched his hand out as far as if could go, getting ready to grab a hold of that soothing light. Suddenly, the ground below him gave way and turned into water, dragging him down under the current and away from the light.

"You're not going anywhere..." A dark and eerie voice growled.

With that, Cloud was pulled under the surface, and instantly, it solidified over his head. He was trapped under the water. He was going to drown all over again. Just as he couldn't hold his breath and was about to give in, a flash of white light assaulted his vision, blinding him. It faded into darkness, and once more, the blonde found himself sitting alone in the void. Doomed to repeat what just happened again and again until he could finally pry his eyes open.

If only he could just wake up...  
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_A/N: And there's chapter four! :D A bit different from the original, but still the same in some parts. So, what did ya' think? Love it? Hate it? Lemmi know whatcha thought of this chappie, okay? :) Hearing your guys and your response to this story always motivates me to type faster! :3_

_Well, I'll see you all in chapter five! But until then..._

_Toodles! :D_  
_~Zimithrus1_


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